Orthodontic appliance



A rrifi 117, 1951 A. RUSSE gsw m ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 7, 1941 Arch/e B. Brusse INVENTOR.

BY I Wm A T TOPNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1951 i ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Archie B. Brusse, Denver, Colo., assignor to ,j Rocky Mountain Metal Products 00., Denver, 0010., a corporation of Colorado Application February 7, 1947, Serial No. 727,185

1 Claim. ((31-32-14) tooth or teeth with which the appliance is associated.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved arch wire or bar attaching bracket having releasable means for maintaining the arch wire or bar in association with the bracket.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a metallic arch wire receiving bracket capable of being applied to a tooth band and having releasable clamping means in association with V the bracket for maintaining the arch wire in 'position in said bracket.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved structure of the foregoing character which is of relatively simple nature and thus relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply, and one which is of compact nature, thus affording no more than a relatively small or minute obstruction in the mouth of the wearer.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description and appended claim, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the tooth band bracket and clamping means of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the clamp for maintaining the arch wire or bar in position with relation to the bracket.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the clamp, looking toward the left in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front end elevation, or edge view, of the clamp shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational View of the of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is an assembled view, in front elevation and on an enlarged scale, of the improved bracket, clamp and portions of the arch wires in position with relation thereto.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is bracket not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since the invention 2 1 is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood thatthe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of .description and not of limitation.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 5, It! represents, as a whole, a metal tooth band to which has been applied, as by means of spot welding, or in any other suitable manner, an arch wire or bar attaching bracket or member, shown as a whole at II. This bracket. comprises a base portion or body Ila which isadapted to be attached to the tooth band I0. Its longitudinal parallel edges, as shown, carry, or are provided with outwardly extending wall members I2 and I3 which are substantially parallel to each other. Each of the wall members is provided at its outer end with a flange which is curved, or otherwise shaped, to provide a longitudinal substantially U-shaped groove in its undersurface. The bracket II ispreferably formed from some metal which is suitable for use in the human mouth and the space between the outwardly projecting portions I2 and I3, which may be U-shaped in cross section, receives the arch wires or bars I8 and I9, as seen in Figs. 1 and 6.

In Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings, one form of improved clamping member or arch wire holding device ofthe present invention is shown in detail. This clamping device or member, indicated as a whole at I4, comprises, as shown, a longitudinal back bar or portion l5, substantially U-shaped end portions or arms I6, I6. Each of the arms I 6 terminates in an inwardly projecting so-called free end portion I7. It is to be noted that the end members or arms I6 extend substantially at right angles to the members or portions I5 and I! and are oiiset from or disposed in planes elevated above the normal plane of the normally parallel members I 5 and II. The clamp or wire retaining member I4 is preferably formed from some suitable springy metal which permits the portion or member I5 thereof to be inserted in the longitudinal groove or space in the wall member I2, and which also permits the end members or arms I6, I6 and the opposed projecting free end portions l1, H to be spread or sprung outwardly so as to engage these free end portions II, II in the groove or space formed in the under side of the wall member I3 of the bracket I I.

In practice, the tooth band I!) is applied to one of the patients teeth preferably after the bracket II has been mounted upon said band. The arch wire or wires I8 and III are then brought into position over the base portion Ila of the bracket and between the upstanding grooved or recessed longitudinal wall members 12 and I3 of bracket II. With the parts in this position, the clamping member 14 has its portion 15 engaged in the groove of the wall member 12 of bracket member H, the end members or arms IS, with their inwardly projecting and opposed end portions [1, are then spread outwardly away from one another until the free ends I! can be engaged in the groove or channel formed in grooved or recessed bracket portion or member l3. When released, the arms or end members [6 and the free ends or projecting portions IT, IT, spring back to their normal substantially rectangular outline clamping means, one form of which is shown herein, may be made within the scope of the present invention. The material from which the bracket H and the clamping means or member I4 is made may vary in accordance with the desires or wishes of the manufacturer or the dentist using the appliance of the present invention. It is, of course, desirable to use some acid-resistant and non-corrosive metal suitable for location an use within the human mouth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

An orthodontic appliance comprising a bracket including a base portion having projecting ends for attachment to a tooth band, wall members extending outwardly from opposite sides of said 4 base portion in substantially parallel, spaced relation, each of said wall members having at its outer end an outwardly projecting flange shaped to provide a longitudinal substantially U-shaped groove in the undersurface of said flange, the space between the wall members being sufficient to receive an arch wire or wires in side-by-side arrangement, and a resilient clamp comprising U-shaped transverse portions adapted to engage the arch wire or wires at opposite ends of the wall members, a longitudinal bar interconnecting said U-shaped end portions and adapted to be received in the longitudinal, substantially U-shaped groove of one of said flanges and substantially coaxial, separated bars extending longitudinally from the U-shaped end portions substantially parallel to said longitudinal interconnecting bar and adapted to be received in the longitudinal substantially U-shaped groove of the other said flange when sprung into underlying engagement therewith'so as to clampingly hold the arch wire or wires between the wall members of said bracket.

ARCHIE B. BRUSSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the filo of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,429,749 Maeulen et a1 Sept. 19, 1922 1,821,171 Atkinson Sept. 1, 1931 1,976,115 Boyd Oct. 9, 1934 2,265,420 Brusse Dec. 9, 1941 2,381,128 Laskin Aug. 7, 1945 2,406,527 Berke Aug. 27, 1946 

